hayman reece adjustable tow hitch

[frederick Member Find all posts View Profile Close frederick]

To the PP experts, after fitting my Pedders lift kit my OEM towball sits to high for my tandem axle car trailer (no springs on trailer) therefore when towing the car trailer the rear wheels are the only ones touching the road which is not a good look especially when i will be picking up my restored Tr3a triumph which involves a 1400ks each way trip so i purchased an adjustable Hayman Reece tow hitch.

The hitch has 4 holes so i can move the ball height higher or in the case of the car trailer lower by undoing the two bolts and moving until the car trailer sits flat on the road.

I have no issues with my caravan with the original tongue as one of the reasons i got the lift kit fitted so my question is,

has any one else fitted the HR tow hitch?
Are they as safe and as strong as the OEM one?

And i notice the ball protrudes out further than the original so any problem drilling another hole in the box section so that the tube can be slid further in towards the rear of the car.

As always i will await your advice and thanks in advance for your contributions.

Wazza (frederick)

[John Member Find all posts View Profile Close John]

Wazza, I have a HR adjustable hitch. I guess you mean the shank protrudes more than with the standard tongue, etc. The shank on these is a solid bar, so you could probably get it re-drilled (that's what I plan to do sometime in the future) without affecting its strength. I would check with Hayman-Reese beforehand, though.

IMO, the HR tongue and hitch is significantly stronger than the stock version. From memory, the hitch head itself is rated to around 3000kg or so.

If you were using no WDH with the caravan previously, you'll probably notice an improvement in the combination's handling if you use the WDH with it.

[Guest Close Guest]

Shouldn't be a big issue drilling a new hole but the minimum distance to the existing hole will depend on whether it is a solid or hollow section.

[frederick Member Find all posts View Profile Close frederick]

Amts, unlike the OEM one which is solid the HR is a hollow box section. I have gone onto the HR web site and asked their tech guys my question re the extra hole.

Cheers

[Guest Close Guest]

What is the wall thickness and how far away do you want to drill the new hole? Can do some quick calcs based on some assumptions.

[John Member Find all posts View Profile Close John]

...unlike the OEM one which is solid the HR is a hollow box section.

That's interesting, Wazza. The tongue and head on my HR WDH is solid steel (and weighs a bomb).

[teamdevo Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close teamdevo]

The hitch he is talking about is not the weight distrubtion hitch it is a hitch designed so you can adjust it up and down and is rated to 2000kg i know they are releasing very soon which is rated to 3000kg i dont think you can drill through it as it voids warranty ect

[frederick Member Find all posts View Profile Close frederick]

Hi guys, yes Teamdevo you are correct and i am not talking about the WDH but the adjustable towbar tongue.

Amts, the measurements you asked for are as follows,

Hayman reece adjustable tow hitch is 50x50x4mm box section and the total length to where it is welded to the vertical plate is 250mm the locking pin hole is approx 80mm to centre from car end.I would think i could measure 80mm from the other end a drill same pin size hole which in my humble non engineering opinion would make it stronger as there will be less box section bearing the weight outside as more would be inside the recess if you get what i mean.Yes i am aware that the HR warranty will be void but what would that warranty mean anyway? For the record the cast OEM tongue pin hole is roughly 50mm from car end. I hope i have not confused you too much.

[Guest Close Guest]

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Given that the hole centre is 80mm from the car end, and assuming that the hole is 17mm dia., then there is about 71.5mm of material between the hole and the end of the bar.
So to achieve the same amount of material between the new and existing holes, your new hole needs to be 88.5mm (between centres) from the existing hole. This leaves you 81.5mm from vertical plate to new hole centre.

[frederick Member Find all posts View Profile Close frederick]

Amts, thanks mate for the technically correct advice, am i to assume that the tow hitch would "technically" be stronger given that it is protruding less than before once i am pinned to the new hole?

Regards

[Guest Close Guest]

Correct. Because it is protruding less, there is a smaller moment arm from the anchor point of the towbar on the chassis to the towball. This is only applicable under vertical load. In terms of towing forces, the protrusion distance does not matter but the amount of material in front of the hole does.

[frederick Member Find all posts View Profile Close frederick]

Thanks a bunch for your help Amts, i really appreciate it.

Cheers

Wazza (frederick)